While checking in the staff told me I had their favorite room. They were just in it the day before jumping on the bed for a photoshoot.
I did the rounds in the lobby before heading up to my room. Check out this awesome installation by Michael Anderson of graffiti stickers he created between 1994 and 2004. The staff told me that sometimes people try to sneak their own stickers into the mix, but the Ace staff is on the case - few succeed.
Close ups of the stickers.
Surfer Blood, Beach House, Spoon... the lobby's got some solid options from our frineds at Other Music.
Reassuring words.
I checked out the event space we had the OC opening party in to get a better view of it when it's not packed with people. I love the back wall speakers - a hand me down from the Number Nine store.
The walls are covered with thick glossy paint over a vintage wallpaper - creating this awesome lacquered black motif.
Off to my room.
They were not kidding... check it out!
A few rooms at the Ace have a mural created by a different artist. Mine’s got a graffiti wall mural by Mint&Serf.
Herringbone floors. Perfect.
When you enter the room, the radio's on and playing 91.5 - an homage to the hotel's indie North West roots and their love for John Richards.
Check out the view...
A perfect ensemble of mags.
One featured a story about the room I was in. Meta.
A stack of cards, some mad libs from OC, and an In Touch to keep it real and balance out the heavy stack of international fashion mags resting on the coffee table.
I checked in post-dinner time and opted to sample some of the round the clock room service from the Breslin.
An 8 ball from OC helps you make the right decisions even when travling alone.
Foods here!
Did I make the right choice?
Sure did! The goat cheese and leek tart with a mixed green salad. Majorly delish.
In case you just need a nosh, the fridge is stocked with some creative options.
Like a Heineken keg!
The snack bar.
Danny, one of the managers at the OC, stopped in to check out the room.
And found some familiar faces in iD!
We tried out some deserts from the Breslin.
The chocolate doughnut with cinnimon sugar is as ridiculous as it looks.
We headed down to the always packed Breslin Bar to meet Diane and John for a drink. Luckily they saved us a seat.
When I headed back into the room, I browsed the TV options before tucking in. OC at the Ace stocks the entire Criterion Collection so I grabbed a few options.
However, the Ace Picks rental series is beyond amazing! The Decemberists even have their own station!
As does Butt Magazine.
I opted for this edition of Wolphin found at OC and called it a night.
The next morning I got up, put on some records, did some work, and headed to the gym.
Lots to choose from...
I stuck with Stevie Wonder - it was just that kind of morning.
I had the place to myself and was totally into the boxing-gym aesthetic. The heavy bag in the gym was actually featured in Bull Durham.
Back at my room...
The comfiest robe. A grey long hoodie beats terry cloth any day.
How kind.
I stopped into Stumptown to have the most excellent cup of coffee in recent experience, and a good people watching stint as well.
After dropping into the OC store, it was back downtown to the office. Too bad, I could get used to this. Thanks ACE!

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A Night at the Ace: the Most New York of New York Hotels

As a New York resident for all of my twenty-two years, I can decidedly say that I have a pretty good grasp on the city. Residing Downtown and going to school Uptown, I’ve done a sweep of Manhattan neighborhoods so thorough that I joke about being able to identify any block on the island just by looking at a photo of it, though I actually probably wouldn’t be too bad at the task. That’s why there’s always a thrill when it comes to New York hotel rooms. It’s a glimpse at an impermanent life in a place that’s always been home. It’s a place for people who don’t already have self-prescribed favorite walking routes in each part of town, and who don’t have to worry about their upstairs neighbors being too noisy because chances are they’ll have new ones by tomorrow. Add in a slightly saccharine staff, and you don’t always get New York – but a skewed reality of it.

So when I got the chance to stay at the ACE HOTEL, I jumped at it precisely to get a bit of this fantasy. To stay in a blank slate of a room with little to occupy my time other than premium cable, I was excited to get a “vacation” in an oasis that, with the shades pulled down, felt nothing like Midtown Manhattan. Walking into my room it didn’t take long to realize that I was actually entering a totally different kind of fantasy: one in which I apparently got to house sit for my infinitely interesting neighbor who had exquisite taste in, well, everything. Expertly curated, each room at the Ace pulls together a mélange of antique, one of a kind, and new furniture, art, records, books, bedding, and even snacks that seem to meet one person’s specific personal standards. Boylans soda and Pocky sticks aren’t regularly available at your corner bodega, though they stock the fridge here. No two rooms are exactly alike, and while my room had Bon Iver and Stevie Wonder on the record player, there’s an excitement in knowing that the room next door has a slightly different taste. It’s precisely that which doesn’t make Ace feel like an escape from the city like most hotels do – it rather feels like the most New York of New York hotels.

The same kind of curiosity ensues here as when you see a neighbor opening the door to their apartment and you slyly peek in to see what their apartment looks like, or when you visit a friend’s house and start peering at all their curiosities. It’s an honest and non-threatening voyeurism, and here there’s no shame in being nosey and exploring your rogue apartment for the night. With a record collection for me to play, a stack of magazines ready to thumb through, and my friends at the OC Ace shop just a few stories below; I was ready to spend the night.